This makes me nostalgic for the announcement Musty, Komova, Afan, and Paseka were in for Rio. It’s a loss to the sport the Rodionenkos wasted so much talent; those 4 alone were strong enough at their best to fight any pre-'15 U.S. team. It makes me angry Komova and Afan stuck it out an entire quad for 1 Worlds; even more that Afan peaked / threw Amanars for nothing and Komova couldn’t compete her Euro Games FX in Glasgow for an AA medal.
Nab’s career was a bust. She could’ve had 1 of the best D scores on bars by London if she’d put her In-bars, Nabieva+Pak, Shap+Uprise 1/1, etc., into a consistent, difficult program. If she’d focused on VT/UB post-Rotterdam, she should’ve been able to clean up the Amanar/Khorkintosh or learn a Cheng. Paseka becoming a 1-event gymnast was also a crime. She had a huge Markelov as a Jr., and on FX, she had great presentation + competed Full-In, ADF, DLO, and x2 Whip > 3/1 '10 - '15. While she did decently in 2015 TF on UB/FX, she should’ve been able to handle more in D, if not then, by Rio.
If this group makes it to Tokyo, it’ll be great to see how they do. Listunova + Urazova have great, well-rounded AA programs. Melnikova’s choices haven’t impressed me; VT/UB have remained the same, while BB/FX have been so scaled back from the days of her Barani, 2-ft LO, Full-in DMT, etc. Even on FX, she couldn’t keep x2 Whip > DBL Back?
Rooting for Minaeva as a +1 and to produce a competitive UB set without sacrificing the great composition she has. Ilyankova had Shap+Uprise 1/2+Ezhova for a bit, but the COP is lagging by not awarding any CV/SB for the latter 2 skills. Uprise 1/2 to el should be bumped to D and/or +.10 SB awarded to D+C+D (2 skills w/ flight). It’ll be a shame to see it inevitably evolve to a set with less flow.
